LucasArts will go into a long term contract with Epic Games, who makes the Unreal Engine 3.0, which is a high tech gaming developer’s platform that will allow their games to be created for the mobile, PC and the consoles. The gaming engine, named after Epic’s wildly popular game Unreal, is licensed to various companies for their developers to write games without having to worry about the nuts and bolts of interfacing with the various components, but rather focusing on the game itself. There is no word on what LucasArts will develop with the award winning foundation software, but we are sure it will be pretty cool. The Unreal Engine is one of the best out there.
First it was Han Solo in carbonite from Empire Strikes Back, then it was George Lucas, and now another creative business type has joined in the fray. Who you ask? Why Steve Jobs of course. The flamboyant CEO of Apple is seemingly dipped in the deep freeze for an iPhone case. It will cost you $35 and is available for the iPhone 3, 3GS and 4 versions, but get it quickly before lawyers that be come swooping down to close up the chill chamber.
Analysts are cautiously optimistic about the success of the yet to be opened Star Wars: The Old Republic. They estimate the massive online multiplayer world, based 3000 years before the start of the movies, will get more than 1 million subscribers and over $160 million in the first year. The game has been long awaited by fans, being postponed already once. LucasArts are being very open in getting people interested by allowing the early joining of guilds and providing as much information as possible. There is also additional media planned, such as a book, etc, to fuel the fire as well. It seems that so far, Lucas is doing everything right to keep gamers informed and excited. The release date is sometime in late fourth quarter 2011.
Speaking of books, there will be a third Knights of the Old Republic novel in the series by Bioware story wizard Drew Karpyshyn, who penned most of the dialogue and story line for the game. The tale is something that was needed to resolve many of the unanswered questions about Revan and others in the game, but Karpyshyn is also using the opportunity to bridge into The Old Republic, introducing some key elements that while maybe unnecessary to enjoy the game, will certainly make the title more interesting. Release is set for somewhere near the end of the year, before the MMO is to open to provide backstory and nuance to the main plot of the game world.
And that’s the news from a galaxy, far, far away…
